Make Your Own Greeting Cards

May 11, 2011

One thing that you’ll quickly learn about me is that I’m a huge advocate for Do it Yourself (D.I.Y) Projects. Obviously arts and crafts aren’t for every Humbleville citizen, but if you are a creative type, D.I.Y projects can be a fun and easy way to save money all year round.

To start off my first term as Mayor of Humbleville, I thought it would be nice to introduce the citizens of Humbleville to one of my favorite D.I.Y. projects; Making your own greeting cards.

All year long you find yourself heading to the Humbleville drug store to pick up a $4-$5 greeting card for every occasion on the calender. Making your own cards not only saves you money, but also shows the recipient how much you care.

This is my most recent greeting card that I actually made and gave to Humble Mom this past Sunday on Mother’s Day. I took pictures to log my progress.

Step 1: Gather Your Materials

1. Gather Your Materials

Time to go shopping for your materials. Getting your supplies will require a little bit of upfront costs, most likely more than what a single card will cost, but as you make more cards, cost per card will decrease.

Here are a few items to add to your shopping list:

Colored card stock: You will use 1 sheet per card. I found a set of 50 sheets for $5.

Scrapbook kits: These are usually pretty affordable and include lots of fun extras.

Stickers: I especially like 3D stickers with the foam backings, usually about $3 for a pack of 20 pieces.

Perforated Letters or Sticker Letters: Great if you have bad hand-writing, like myself.

Ribbon: Finishes a card.

Scissors: Fun scissors add a little extra pizazz to your card.

Glue: I prefer glue sticks, but both work fine.

Step 2: Laying Out Your Card

2. Laying Out Your Card

Now that you have all your materials, you can start planning how you want your card to look. Obviously you’ll get ideas while you’re gathering your materials, but this is still an important step.

What I like to do, is theme the card for the individual who will be receiving it. In this instance, I’m making a Mother’s Day card for Humble Mom, who loves the color pink, as well as flowers, of course.

I started my card by choosing a sheet of light pink card stock and folding it in half to make a card. Then I went into my scrapbooking kit (I know they’re meant for scrapbooking, but anyways) to find anything pink that would compliment the card stock.

As you see, I went for a darker shade of pink, close to coral. I also found these snazzy perforated letters in my scrapbook kit, convenient that key happened to be in the same coral color.

I purchased the paper floral appliques in a set which came with lots of different colors. I chose the ones that matched my paper closest. Then I cut a piece of light pink ribbon the length of the card stock to add a sophisticated touch to your card.

Now move all the pieces around your card space until you have a design you’re happy with.

Step 3: Finishing Your Card

3. Finishing Your Card

Almost done! The last step in making your greeting card is to glue everything in place.

I prefer using glue sticks, but if you don’t have any, don’t worry about it, liquid glue will work just fine!

Tip for using applying liquid glue: Use a sponge tip make-up applicator to evenly coat pieces in glue.

Now that you’ve glued everything onto your card stock, you’ll need to trim any uneven edges. Be careful cutting around the fold!

After letting your card dry for an hour or two, open it up and write a personal message to the recipient. Don’t know what to write in a blank card? Try searching online for a nice poem or set of Bible verses that’s appropriate for the occasion.

The only tricky part of making your own greeting cards is that it doesn’t include an envelope. I don’t think it’s necessary to have an envelope if your handing the card directly to the recipient, but if you’re mailing the card, you will need an envelope. You can purchase various card-sized envelopes at office supply stores or you can make your own out of card stock.

Have fun making your greeting cards and don’t forget how fulfilling it is to give something homemade.